And I Was Enchanted To Meet You
by PixieBandit
Summary: (AU) When Snow White, princess of the Enchanted Forest, is cursed to live out the rest of her days in a land without magic, she meets Storybrooke's resident Prince Charming, David Nolan. Can David help her return home or has Snow been ripped away from her happy ending for good?
1. Chapter 1

The streets were empty and clear. Most of the town's residents have already retreated back into their homes, having sought refuge from the cold winds. Storybrooke has begun for the day, while a hooded figure remained wide eyed and alert in the shadows of a dark alley.

Not far, right across the alley, a couple stood in front of Granny's Diner, arguing. They conversed rather animatedly, making a splendid show for the phantom patrons seated outside.

"David, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't eat _meat_?" the blonde woman said, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Right, right. I'm sorry. That was stupid," David sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Have fun with your leftovers," she added, gesturing towards the to-go bag David held, before turning to leave. I'm going home."

"Abigail," David started weakly. "At least let me drive you home."

"No thank you!" she called back, waving goodbye but not even turning to give him a second look.

David watched as Abigail stalked off and sank into the nearest chair, defeated. Dropping the paper bag on to the ground next to him, he hung his head back and closed his eyes.

_You screwed up big time, Nolan. Father's going to kill y-_

But before he could finish the sentence, his train of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of soft footsteps and rustling paper. His eyes snapped open. A hooded figure was running away with a paper bag in hand- _his_ paper bag in hand! David quickly got up a chased after the thief.

"Stop! Thief!" he yelled, as the thief turned to the next street. David anticipated the turn and dived for the thief, sending them both to the ground.

"Show your face you coward!" David said, pinning the culprit down and removing the hood.

David expected a hundred and one probable faces to see underneath the hood, but he had not imagined what was before him.

"You're… a girl," he said, dumbstruck. He was still mesmerized by the fiery emerald eyes, porcelain skin, blood red lips, and ebony hair.

"Woman," the _woman_ corrected as she groped for the phone David had dropped in his fall. But before David's expression could grow even more confused, she hit him squarely on the jaw with his phone. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, the bandit woman hurried onto her feet and escaped with the Granny's To-Go paper bag with her.

David gingerly got back onto his feet, cradling his chin. "Where ever you are, I will find you! I will always find you!"

Xxx

Snow White may have been new to this foreign land, but she was definitely no stranger to the ways of survival. She knew that if she were to last one more day in this _Storybrooke_, she had no choice but to steal from that innocent man (even if it did mean permanently marking his perfectly chiseled jaw).

The next step to making it to tomorrow was not freezing to death. She rubbed her hands together and pulled her cloak around herself tighter as she walked around town for a warm place to stay. Her bandit's outfit may have been thick and made of fur, but it still wasn't enough to beat the cold.

_What am I going to do? Steal someone's clothes now?_

However, before being able to arrive at a decision, she was forcefully grabbed from behind and pushed into the backseat of a car.

Her kidnapper appeared shortly at the driver's seat and chuckled at the sight of her struggling to open the door.

_What on earth is this box he's just placed me in?!_

"I told you I'd find you. Where ever you go, I will always find you," David said smugly, turning from the front seat to face Snow.

"Is this the only way you can catch a woman? By entrapping her?" Snow spat.

"It's the only way to catch thieving scum," David replied, unaffected.

"Well aren't you a real Prince Charming," Snow rolled her eyes.

"I have a name you know,"

"Don't care. Charming suits you,"

"Where is my paper bag?"

An eyebrow shot up into Snow's forehead.

_All this for a __**that**_**?**

"What?" Snow said.

"My paper bag. Where is it? The one you stole from me," David explained seriously.

_I've thrown it away. Oops._

"Please, just give it back. And I'll give you anything you want," David pleaded, tone changing, when Snow did not answer.

An idea formed in the bandit princess' head.

"I need a place to stay for the night," she demanded confidently, holding her chin high.

"What," now it was David's turn to be confused.

"I have nowhere to keep warm. So if you want to see your precious paper bag, you will give me a place to stay in for the night," she said clearly.

David paused for a moment and sighed deeply, "Alright, then."

Xxx

"You can stay here for the night," David said, pointing towards the couch in his living room.

_What the hell am I doing?_

Snow walked in carefully, wary of everything around her.

"Hey, don't worry. My house won't chew you up," David chuckled.

Snow straightened herself, "Of course." _Houses here are so strange._

"Alright, so, where's my ring?" David finally asked, settling into a nearby chair.

Snow's gazed shifted from the TV to David.

"I threw it away," Snow murmered, lowering herself onto the couch.

"WHAT?!"

"What do you care? It was just boxes of leftover food," she started.

"Yes. But among them was a ring. A ring that belonged to my mother and a ring I was going to give to-"

"The nag with the band attitude- that's what this is about?" Snow gibed.

"She's my fiancé,"

"Good luck with that," Snow laughed. "You must be getting something impressive for agreeing to that union."

"Excuse me?" David folded his arms.

"I know how this works. True love, it doesn't exist. It's all just arranged marriages and business transactions. There's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss," she shrugged her shoulders.

"And what do _you_ know about true love?" David sneered.

"Nothing. But I know plenty about mergers such as this," she said, gesturing towards David.

David paused and looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, I'm sorry, Miss. But the deal's off then."

"Slow down, Charming! I said I threw the bag out, but you didn't really think I'd throw something as precious as a ring, did you? As much as I don't really do rings and all," she said, digging through her jacket pockets.

David let out a relieved breath when Snow held out the jade ring.

David reached out for it, "Not really your style?"

"Well there's only way to find out," she said, taking the ring back and placing it on her finger. It fit perfectly on her finger and glowed beautifully. The jade even matched her eyes. And this, David noticed.

After a beat, Snow White pulled the ring off. "You're right, not me at all."

She handed the ring back to him and they sat in silence for a while.

David cleared his throat and spoke, "So… since you'll be staying here for the night. Mind telling me what your name is?"

"Snow. Snow White," she smiled.

David gawked in disbelief.


	2. Chapter 2

_-Enchanted Forest, a few hours ago-_

Deep within the woods was where Snow found solitude. She liked to lie back on a tree and let the sun warm her until her cheeks were pink. She loved listening to the voices of Mother Nature. She basked in the freedom and rawness of this life away from royalty, even if it meant being away from home.

At this particular moment, however, she was met by something much different from her usual quiet days under the sun. Today, she found herself face-to-face with the very woman that drove her away from home.

"Regina," Snow breathed as she stumbled into the clearing where Regina stood waiting.

"Dearest Snow," Regina greeted with an insincere smile.

"If you've come to kill me, I'll have you know that I'm not the same little girl you chased out of the castle," Snow warned, pulling a dagger from her boot.

Regina let out a laugh and with a flick of her wrist, sent the dagger flying away into the bushes.

"Lucky for you I didn't come here to fight," Regina began. "I came to offer you a deal. Consider it a late birthday present."

Snow glared but kept her stance. "What do you want?"

"I want you to give up you claim to the throne. If you declare me the rightful ruler of this land, I will let you... run off far, far away," Regina stated clearly.

"Exile," Snow concluded.

"Well I've tried to kill you, more than once, but none of those worked. But then I realized I was going about it all wrong," Regina said. "You need to be alive. You need to be awake. So you can spend all your days knowing that I have taken everything that was supposed to be yours."

Snow took in a deep breath.

"Now get down on your knees and swear on your father's grave that this kingdom belongs to me," Regina ordered.

"And if I don't?"

"Well then someone will pay the price," Regina said as a glowing heart appeared in her hand.

"What is that?" Snow asked, voice now laced with worry.

"This, my dear, belongs to a dear friend of yours. I believe you two have taken to calling yourselves _sisters_," a wicked smile formed on Regina's lips.

"No," Snow said softly.

"Yes," Regina sneered.

"NOOOOOOO!" Snow shouted as she charged towards Regina.

"Fool!" Regina exclaimed, sending Snow flying back towards a tree with a blast of energy. "You're unarmed and have strayed too far from home for any backup. If you try to attack me, I assure you, you will fail."

"This is just a ruse," Snow growled. "That isn't her heart!"

"That could be true, yes. But I could also really have her heart in my hand," Regina stated simply, giving the heart a light squeeze for good measure.

"NOOO!" Snow yelled once more, getting to her feet.

"Now Snow, will you really gamble on your _duckling_ _sister's _life? I mean you could. You'd just have to run back home hoping that she's still there waiting for you." Regina taunted.

"You wouldn't," Snow said softly.

Regina looked at the glowing heart in her hand then at Snow.

"Believe me, I would," she responded before squeezing the heart harder.

Snow looked frantically at her surroundings. She was trying to think of something to do, _anything_ she could do. She couldn't- wouldn't- gamble on her dearest friend's life. Regina was right. Snow was unarmed and alone. There was no other choice.

"Time is ticking, Snow," came Regina's voice, pulling Snow out of her thoughts. Snow watched as the heart in Regina's hand looked ready to crack.

"ALRIGHT!" Snow choked out, falling to her knees.

"I swear, on King Leopold's grave, that this kingdom belongs to you, Regina," Snow said quietly.

Regina grinned.

"Now, that's more like it," Regina said, lowering the hand holding the glass heart.

"There, now leave us all in peace," Snow ordered.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not just yet. There's still a matter of your exile," Regina reminded Snow.

"Then I'll go as far as you want," Snow replied.

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Regina said, pulling a small item from her dress pockets.

Snow took a step back. "Is that a-?"

"Good bye, Snow White," Regina smiled, throwing the magic bean to the ground.

The bean opened its portal on the ground and immediately pulled Snow in. As Snow fell into the vortex, someone quickly approached.

"SNOW!"

Snow and Regina turned towards the voice.

"Emma!" was the last thing Snow exclaimed before the portal closed.

"What have you done to her?!" Emma demanded, marching towards Regina as she sent shots of energy at her.

Regina merely waved them off.

"Work on those pathetic energy blasts of yours, and maybe _then_ we'll talk," Regina said before disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving Emma Swan alone in the clearing.

Xxx

-_Storybrooke-_

"I'm sorry; did you just say your name is _Snow White_?" David asked, eyes creased together in confusion.

Snow blinked.

_Oh crap. I just gave my identity to a total stranger. It's the stupid blue eyes, I know it._

"No, no. I meant it's _so white_. Outside. It's so white outside. Because it started snowing," she said as she calmly pointed out the window.

David turned to look out. "Oh, yeah…"

"My name isn't Snow White. It's uhh… Margaret," she said before quickly taking it back. "I mean, Mary."

"So, which is it?" David asked, confused once more.

"It's both!" she simpered. "It's both. I'm Mary Margaret."

David let out a chuckle. "Well then, Mary Margaret, might I ask why you robbed me tonight and have no place to stay?"

_I'm from a different world and have no clue as to how to work my way around here_.

"I'm new in town," she began. "I've been, umm, banished from home and just found myself here. As to why I robbed you, I needed to eat and have no money to pay for food."

David nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry about that by the way. And that too," she added, pointing at his chin where she hit him with his phone.

"Oh right, yeah. It's going to scar, isn't it?" David said.

"It could be cool," Snow suggested. "If anyone asks you about it, you could tell them the story of this day."

David laughed. "I'll them the story of how a girl beat me up?"

Snow joined him laughing and lightly swatted his knee from her seat.

"No," she teased. "You can tell them the story of how you got it the same day you saved a lost girl from a terrible blizzard."

"You make me sound like some kind of hero," David said.

"Prince Charming," she teased.

"I told you, I have a name," he said, shaking his head lowly in embarrassment.

Snow quirked an eyebrow.

"It's David," he said, looking up. Blue eyes met green. He knew that this woman had just robbed and attacked him but something told him that he could trust her. Something happened in that moment. It was electric.

"Well, it's nice to meet you David."

Xxx

Thank you so much for those who reviewed, favorited, and followed! It means a lot to me. Feel free to let me know about what you think about this new chapter.


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